The Final Plans for Spain Ended up a Cruise

I love the time period between the time I know I’m going somewhere and I get it all figured out. You guys helped this time with your bullfight comments. That’s out. So is Madrid. Here’s how we ended up:JAX-DFW-JFK-MAN on American upgraded with VIPs to Business Class. Arrive at 7:25 AM. Depart 11:10 AM MAN-LHR-BCN (Barcelona) on British Airways using a 10K mile partner award. The taxes were still $110 each but we got to head south the same day instead of waiting until the next day for the Ryanair flight at about $60 each with one checked bag (really a carry on) and priority boarding.We arrive in Barcelona at 7:30PM and will head to the Le Meridien on La Rambla for three nights. No bullfight (thanks you guys, it sounded brutal) and we’ll find a Flamenco show in BCN. It was 4,000 points per night less staying at the LeMeriden at the start of our trip instead of the end. They have a split season and we lucked out there saving 12000 SPG points total.

After 3 nights in Barcelona, we board the MSC cruise ship Fantasia for a one week trip in the Med. Our stops are Marseille, France; Genoa, Italy; Naples, Italy; Palermo, Italy; Sicily, Italy; and LaGoulette, Tunisia on the African continent (that’s a first for us), and then one sea day back to Barcelona the night before our departure home.

We have not been to any of those cities or sights. I’ve been to Nice in the south of France but not Marseille. Katy was in Palermo when she was in her twenties but doesn’t remember much and Tunisia is a new country for us.

Here are the good points of this decision:

We unpack once.

The times in port are full days 8 AM to 5 PM not those shorties you get when the distance between stops is too long. Katy will get to see Pompei as it is a shore excursion from Naples I think. She has always wanted to see that.

Boarding and disembarking is not a big hassle as the ship loads and unloads people at every stop. It is not a full week with all the same people fighting to get on and off the ship. We can take our time at breakfast and leave the ship when the crowd, if any, is gone.

The price. It was $649 per person for the week (swing season my friends) for an inside cabin and $969 for a balcony. We are usually on the inside as crew or in my younger years I always took the inside. We saved $600 each when I found tickets returning from Barcelona instead of London Heathrow so this seemed a no-brainer. The 12,000 point savings at LeMeridien was a bonus as well.

Now the downside of the cruise:

Smoking is allowed in many parts of the ship. They divide up the restaurants into smoking or non smoking which helps, but some of the reviews say it is still an issue. Hence, we took a balcony cabin where we can get some fresh air if need be and just watch the Med go by. The ship is rated a four star experience and I’m a three star kinda guy so we’ll be just fine. We’ll meet some people we can’t even understand which is always fun, and we’ll see new sights together.

I’ve found that if I don’t rush my planning and just let it unfold things will always work out. The cruise idea hit me at midnight and by 1:30 AM I’d ruled out river cruises for this trip (they were all too long) and too expensive and found the Barcelona itinerary.

Now all that’s left is finding that Flamenco show in Barcelona. Oh BTW, temperatures will be in the mid 60’s and 70’s which is our perfect comfort range.

Rick Ingersoll
Rick Ingersoll is one of the world’s experts on frugal travel and flying free and the author of The Frugal Travel Guy Handbook. A retired mortgage banker from Traverse City, Michigan, he has retired to Hilton Head Island,...All Articles | Follow on Google+

Previous Story

Next Story

Rick – Where do you see free lifetime maps? The site just shows free lifetime traffic. The NuMap Guarantee is just a one-time update at time of purchase.

Anonymous

"Lifetime Map Updates"

didn't see it…

deltagoldflyer

@Rick on the GPS, if you can put up your BigCrumbs link for the GPS we may be able to get 4.2% cash back on NewEgg if we start at Ebates and we might as well give you a few cents too along the way from your link?!?

Rick- This Garmin has lifetime traffic but not lifetime maps. Lifetime maps has "LM" in the model number. Otherwise it would be worth getting, since $75 is about the price of lifetime maps. Eric

Anonymous

"Garmin Portable GPS with free Lifetime Map Updates" be careful, free lifetime traffic alerts is not the same as free map updates.

Dr. Bob

Anonymous

On the ship you can save money by arranging your own excursions. For instance, from Naples it is any easy and inexspensive train ride to Pompei. The train stops close to the entrance to the ruins. Rick Steves covers this in his book. Also you can go to the Cruisecritic.com to plan what you want to see in port. We usually hook up with other people and arrange indepent excursions with them prior to the cruise.

Colonel(ret.)wes

Hi Rick (and Katy)

Fair winds and Following seas for a terrific med cruise. When in Barca, u may want to try this restaurant just off Las Ramblas within walking distance of your hotel:

Let's share cruise stories during a break at the Chi Seminars this October Rick. We leave in 18 days for our next cruise (Dubai to Istanbul (we will see Oman, Luxor,Petra,Petra, Sharm El Sheik,Tel Aviv,Jerusalem and 5 Greek ports). Thanks to the FTG mentor ship we will be traveling frugally (3.5% of flyight/hotel cost); pajama class from Atlanta to Dubai on BA; then thanks to Hyatt Visa signature award nights, two nights at Grand Hyatt Dubai (since DW is Diamond) hope to enjoy nice upgrade on Club floor.

These responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.

∗ Advertiser Disclosure: Many of the credit card offers that appear on this site are from credit card companies from which FrugalTravelGuy.com receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site (including, for example, the order in which they appear). This site does not include all credit card offers available in the marketplace. Please view our advertising policy page for more information.

Editorial Disclaimer: The editorial content on this page is not provided by any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain, and has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities. Opinions expressed here are author's alone, not those of the bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.